Divergent: His Little Sister
by MichaelisEchizenHitsugaya
Summary: Ashley Coalter grew up knowing she didn't belong. After all, how could she belong if even her prefect Erudite brother had transferred out? Follow Ashley through her take on what happened in Divergent.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: All I own is my OC and ideas. Everything else belongs to Veronica Roth.

This was an assignment I did for class this year. I had a lot of fun writing this. It was really cool that our assignment was actually to write a fanfiction!

* * *

Growing up, I knew that I didn't belong. Yes, I was intelligent and excelled at studying. But of course I was. That was expected of me. Yet, pursuing knowledge didn't interest me in the way it did for my fellow faction members. I only wanted to learn about things that would be applicable in life. Instead, I was forced to sit in the library and learn about everything that I was certain would never become useful.

I went into the aptitude test almost positive that I would show no affinity towards Erudite. After all, my seemingly perfect model Erudite brother had transferred out almost two years ago. If he didn't belong, how could I?

My results were shocking, to say the least. I displayed aptitude for Dauntless. However, I also had traits that definitely marked me as an Erudite. When the pale faced Abnegation volunteer told me my "shocking" results, it looked like she was about to faint. Yet, I didn't think much about my inconclusive test results. I knew what I would choose. Not Erudite.

* * *

At the Choosing Ceremony, I felt calmer than I would have expected. Even though I was sure of my choice, I would still be leaving my parents behind. Putting on an emotionless mask, I said what I was sure would be my last goodbyes to my parents, and left to go join the long line of 16 year olds. Throughout the Ceremony, I couldn't help but keep glancing at my parents, trying to ingrain their faces into my memory. My brother was nowhere to be seen.

"Ashley Coalter." The sound of my name ringing throughout the hall jolted me to my senses. Stepping towards the bowls, I took one last look at my parents sitting in the ranks of the Erudite before taking the knife from the representative, Marcus Eaton.

I calmly walked towards the bowl containing sizzling hot coals. My blood slowly dripped into the bowl and my choice was done. Unable to help myself, I looked to my parents once more as I moved to stand behind the other Dauntless initiates. My father nodded at me once before he turned back to face the bowls in the center of the room. My mother gave me a sad, but accepting smile. They were always so understanding.

After the last person chose, I followed the rest of the Dauntless and moved towards the stairs. What started out as easy going running became a full out sprint towards the train. Seeing most of my fellow transfers out of breath, while I easily swung into the train compartment, all I could think was, 'It's a good thing I thought Martial Arts would be applicable.'

I watched as a tall girl from Candor helped pull an Abnegation transfer up into our compartment. 'Might as well get to know my fellow initiates,' I thought as I approached the two.

"Hi. I'm Ashley," I said as I held out my hand.

The Candor girl grasped my hand in response. "I'm Christina," she said, smiling.

"I'm Beatrice," the Abnegation girl said as she looked uncertainly at my hand and attempted a hand shake.


	2. Chapter 2

We sat together in silence. As I looked around me, I saw Will, Edward, and Myra. Fellow Erudite transfers. I serenely watched the city fly past, not expecting what was to come. About 30 minutes into the ride, I saw Dauntless leaping from the train onto a rooftop. 'If I time it just right, I can make it,' I thought as I estimated the distance between the train and the roof. As our compartment passed by the rooftop, I got up and prepared myself, jumping at the time I deemed correct. I landed quite well, if I say so myself. Of course I did. I didn't spend all that time studying for nothing.

When I looked behind me, I could see Beatrice and Christina holding hands and jumping together. The train continued away from the rooftop, carrying several frightened transfers, now factionless, into the distance.

I turned my attention back to a man standing on one of the ledges and learned that he was Max, one of our faction leaders. When he told us that we were expected to jump of a ledge, everyone was shocked. Beatrice was the first one to step forward and jump. One by one, we all followed her lead.

"They're not going to just kill us all off," I said to myself repeatedly as I stepped onto the ledge. However, all rationality went out of the window as I jumped and plummeted towards the ground. It was a relief when I finally hit the net that caught me. I hated being out of control.

After all the initiates had decided to "jump to their doom," we were split into two groups: Dauntless-born and transfers. While the Dauntless-born left, us transfers were introduced to our instructor: Four. He gave us a tour that ended in the dining hall.

I somehow ended up sitting at a table with not only Christina and Beatrice, who now called herself Tris, but also Four. We were enjoying ourselves when suddenly, the cafeteria grew quiet. I turned around and saw a face I almost didn't recognize. When Christina asked about him, I already expected Four's answer. The man who had walked in was Eric, one of the Dauntless leaders. His cold gaze scanned the room, stopping only when his eyes land on our table, glossing over everybody except Four. He walked towards our table, causing Christina and Tris to tense up.

"Hey sis, I didn't know you transferred in," he said, before dropping into the seat next to Four. Yup. That's right. I'm the little sister of Eric, the ruthless Dauntless leader. Shocking isn't it? I could practically feel the shock and disbelief emanating from Tris, Christina, and Four as they stared at me.

"That's because you didn't come to the Choosing Ceremony," I accused my older brother, glaring at him. Other people may have been afraid of him, but I certainly wasn't. Sure, we grew up arguing with each other, but when it came down to it, he had always been protective of me.

The rest of dinner was tense. I could tell right away that Four wanted absolutely nothing to do with Eric. After a tense conversation, Eric got up. "See ya later," he said to me before he turned and walked away.

"I can't believe you guys are related. Your personalities are so different!" Christina exclaimed as soon as Eric disappeared from view.

I couldn't help but smirk. Of course we didn't seem related. Other than the fact that we both had dark hair and dark eyes, we were nothing alike. My brother was **not** known for his oh so wonderful personality.


	3. Chapter 3

Thanks to Mr. Sunshine, better known as the Dauntless leader, Eric, everyone was tense as we entered the training room. After all, the night before, he had personally driven the point home that not everyone would make it and become a full fledged Dauntless member. Any wrong move could lead to the horrifying fate of becoming factionless. 'Wasn't that reassuring,' I thought to myself as I rolled my eyes. Leave it to my brother to make everyone stressed before training even started.

"Bang!" A loud gun shot rang throughout the room. It jerked me out of my thoughts and I couldn't help but jump a little. I looked up. We weren't being attacked. It was just Four demonstrating how to properly shoot a gun. I probably should have been listening. Oh well. I had always learned with relative ease. Plus, I could always just ask my brother for pointers later if I needed to.

I observed my fellow initiates as they attempted to hit the target. The loud noise around me was foreign, yet comforting. Back in Erudite, we were always expected to be immersed in reading and learning. There was never much chance to make a lot of noise. I raised my gun and aimed at the target. I became another source of the deafening, yet enticing sound of gun shot.

* * *

As we filed into a different training room, I saw a row of punching bags. "Now this is what I'm talking about! This is going to be fun!" I exclaimed excitedly to Will, who was standing beside me.

"Huh?" Will asked confusedly before remembering. "Oh yeah. You trained in martial arts, didn't you?"

"Yup," I said, grinning at him. I couldn't wait to begin this part of training. I couldn't stop myself from jumping up and down in excitement the entire time Four showed us basic kicks and punches.

Going at the punching bag, I used my waist and pivoted in order to put more weight into my kicks and punches. As sweat dripped down my forehead, I grinned. It felt good to let out all my pent up energy.

As I took a quick water break, I watched my fellow initiates. I couldn't help but break into a smile. It was all I could do to prevent myself from bursting out laughing as I watched Myra attempt to punch the punching bag, miss, and topple over. Further down, I saw Peter practically attacking the punching bag like a maniac. 'He's someone to keep an eye on,' I thought to myself.

After Four dismissed us, I went with Tris and Christina to go shopping. It was strange how something I took for granted, my reflection, was a commodity to Tris. She was outfitted in clothing that made her "striking," as Christina termed it. I didn't pay much attention to that idea, however. Seeing as we would be training everyday, I only bought clothes that would be practical: easy to move in. No use getting all dolled up if I was just going to spend my days in the training room.

When we arrived at the tattoo parlor, Al was already getting his tattoo done while Will was still choosing. I looked around me. There were so many beautiful patterns, but what caught my attention was an intricately detailed bracelet style butterfly and flower image.

"I'd like this one please," I said to one of the tattoo artists.


	4. Chapter 4

I had been excited to start fighting as part of training until I learned that I would be fighting against one of my friends. Tris. I had hoped that I would be able to fight against either Peter, Drew, or Molly. Even after only knowing them for only a few days, I already thought them to be insufferable. Sadly, their personalities reminded me of my brother's now obvious brutal nature known throughout the Dauntless complex.

When Will and Al started to fight, it was clear who would win. Will had fairly good technique, but he would be no match for Al, who had strength to back him up. Yet, Al was holding back. That is, until he learned from my brother that the fight wouldn't end until someone is "unable to continue." With one punch, Will got knocked out and had to be helped up.

"Good luck," I told Christina as she was called up next to fight against Molly. She looked anxious. Too anxious to focus properly. This would not turn out well. Adrenaline is good, but too much can be deadly.

Christina put up a good fight at first. However, Molly's weight put things in favor. Christina was pinned down and punched over and over again. Yet, she kept struggling. That is, until she reached her breaking point.

"Stop! Stop! I'm done," Christina yelled out, preventing herself from getting kicked by Molly once more.

My brother glared at her before dragging her out the door. We followed them all the way to the Pit, stopping in front of a railing, where Eric told Christina to climb over it and hang over the chasm for five minutes. She quietly obeyed, swinging herself over the railing.

Halfway through, Christina's hands slipped, making it so that her fingertips were the only things preventing her from falling to her doom. I made towards her, planning on helping. However, I was stopped by my brother's glare. He slowly shook his head, eyes telling me not to make another move, before turning back to face Christina. Unspoken anger flared in my eyes. 'That's right,' I thought to myself bitterly. 'My brother only ever cared about me.'

* * *

Fighting Tris was as bad as, if not worse than, watching Christina hang above the chasm. I tried to make things as fast as possible. There was no point in drawing things out and making things worse for Tris. Yet, I still felt horrible every time my kicks collided into Tris.

After Tris was down for the count and I was declared winner, I helped her stand. "I'm sorry about that," I say to her, awkwardly rubbing the back of my neck.

"S'all right," Tris replied as she allowed me to help her to the side.

I breathed out a sigh of relief and smiled. I was glad she didn't hold a grudge against me for knocking her out cold.

"She could have died!" I yelled at Eric, slamming my fists into his chest as hard as I could, repeatedly.

He shrugged, uncaring. "If she was cut out for Dauntless, she wouldn't be worried about something like death."

My eyes flared. "That doesn't mean you can force her to hang over the chasm like that, even if you are a Dauntless leader!"

"The Dauntless doesn't fear something like death," Eric replied. "You would do well to not speak like this to me in public."

I turned and stormed out of the room, slamming the door loudly behind me and missing the sigh that Eric let out.

I walked to the training room, letting all of my anger out onto the punching bags. By the time I was done, my clothes were soaked with sweat and I was breathing heavily.


	5. Chapter 5

I walked into the training room, hoping I would be up against Peter. That intolerable idiot had sprayed the words Stiff all over Tris's belongings. My hopes were dashed as soon as I saw the chalkboard displaying our names. I would be fighting Myra. I sighed. I wish I could have switched with Tris, who would be fighting Peter. I would have relished having an opponent I hated.

It was horrible watching Tris and Peter fight. Tris didn't just lose. She was toyed with and beaten up mercilessly. Because she was rushed out as soon as Peter was determined the winner, I had no idea of her actual condition. Wanting to visit Tris as soon as I could, I knocked Myra out with one blow to the head. It took practically no effort. Her guard was too low and it was way too easy to avoid her attempts at hitting me.

On my way out, I glanced at Eric. He stopped leaning against the wall and made to take a step towards me. Then, he sighed and jerked his chin towards the door. I smiled gratefully at him. After all, he could have actually stopped me. I was technically supposed to stay and watch the rest of the fights.

* * *

Training finally became exhilarating when I was paired to fight with Edward. We were the only two people who had remained unscathed. Back in Erudite, I remembered seeing him train in hand to hand combat. This would be a fight like no other.

We were equally matched. That is, until I had the unfortunate luck of tripping over the mat. That was when Edward took the opportunity and brought his knee hard onto my face. My sense of balance already lost, I fell to the ground, unable to properly defend myself. The last thing I saw was Edward's fist coming at my head before I blacked out.

When I woke up again, I was sitting by the side of the wall. Even though I had been hit several times, I actually wasn't in bad condition. Edward wasn't merciless like Peter. He didn't continue to beat people once they were down. Although, I could feel a bruise forming at my jaw. I groaned as I stood up. The fighting was still going, and I was just in time to see Tris beat Myra.


	6. Chapter 6

I was rudely awakened by Eric, who yelled "Everybody Up!" while he shined a light into our room. However, I don't think he saw me. He was too busy yelling at Tris to hurry up.

We ran to the tracks, wondering what this "field trip" would be. When we got there, I could see a pile of guns as well as a pile of boxes labeled "PAINTBALLS" on the ground next to the Dauntless born initiates. Of course Eric and Four were both already there.

Frantically, we all grabbed guns and the boxes of paintballs as the train arrived. It was already hard enough swinging onto the train holding all our supplies. I couldn't even begin to imagine what other, more injured, people were experiencing.

It was only after Eric and Four explained Capture the Flag and its rules that Eric saw me.

"What happened to you?" my brother asked me, smirking as he saw the purple bruise on my face. He had not been at training that day.

"I tripped," I replied.

"You tripped?" he asked, incredulous. He then began laughing a hearty laugh. "I can't believe I missed that. Leave it to you to trip during a fight."

I glared at him as I hit him in the shoulder. The other initiates stared at us. I guess they had a right to be shocked. Other than Christina and Tris, no one knew that Eric was my brother, after all.

"Alright, let's choose our teams," Four said, seeing how uncomfortable I was with the sudden attention from my fellow initiates. I smiled gratefully at my instructor, wishing my brother was more sensible like him.

I ended up, no surprise, on Eric's team. Will, Christina, and Tris, who were on Four's team, gave me a sad glance. In response, I winked and gave them a thumbs up. At least I had Al. Even though I wasn't as close to him as the others, he was still miles more tolerable than Peter. Four's team got off first, and I was stuck with a bunch of unknown Dauntless born, Peter, Molly, Myra, Edward, and Al.

I had initially thought that Al would be good company. Let me take that back. He wouldn't stop babbling about Tris. What did I think she would want as a present? Would she like it if he took her out to dinner? What was her favorite food? His questions were endless. Yet, they didn't prepare me for the worst question of all: Did I think she liked him back? I thought to the many glances that Tris has given to Four when she thought that no one was looking and awkwardly smiled. "I think you'll have to ask Tris for that answer," I replied.

We got off the train when it passed by the park near the end of the pier. It provided perfect camouflage: tall trees surrounded by open space. It was also an utter relief to be free from Al's questions about Tris. However, almost immediately, argument broke out, a large clamour of voices arguing with each other. The two most prominent voices were the ones that belonged to two Dauntless born initiates: Alex and Alicia.

"We should all go after their flag immediately. We know where it is," Alex said.

"We need some people to defend the flag," Alicia replied, rolling her eyes.

"No we don't. We can just get rid of them went they walk around confused, trying to find our location," Alex insisted.

"We need guards!" Alicia yelled, exasperated.

"No we don't!" Alex yelled back, convinced he was right.

"Argh! Fine. Do what you want. Just don't blame me if they get the flag and we lose," Alicia snapped, walking off.

While they were busy arguing, the rest of our team had already set up a place to put our flag: a tree branch. Suddenly, we all heard the sound of gears turning. Looking to the source of the sound, we saw the huge ferris wheel just above the trees, slowly turning.

"Follow me!" Alex yelled, and more than half of our group, including Eric, charged off towards the Ferris wheel without even thinking. The rest of us sensible ones stood guard; it was agreed that when the enemy came, some of us would stay and guard the flag while the rest would charge.

I felt a rush of exhilarating energy when the other team finally appeared. They charged at us and we met them in-between. Paintballs flew everywhere, hitting most of my teammates. There were just too many of them and we were overwhelmed. Eventually, Christina made it to our flag and grabbed it off the branch. Just like that, the game was over.

"They shouldn't have just left like that," Alicia muttered darkly, complaining about our teammates who had just blinding ran towards the ferris wheel and probably got caught unprepared by the opposing team. There was paint splattered all over her.

I grinned. "Aw come on. You know you had fun. I know I did." It was true. Even though I had been painfully pelted by paintballs, it was an experience I knew I didn't want to forget.


	7. Chapter 7

During training, Eric was all grumpy, acting like somebody killed his cat (if he had one). I couldn't help but smirk even though I was also on the losing team. He deserved it for charging brainlessly and not leaving enough people to defend. He was acting less and less like the Erudite I had known while growing up. My brother back then would have hidden his emotions. He also would have thought things through. 'Maybe he really does belong in Dauntless,' I couldn't help but think. The more I saw my brother now, the more I questioned how much I **really** knew him when we were growing up together in Erudite.

I watched as Four demonstrated knife throwing, calculating the distance and force I would need to have in order to have a knife follow the trajectory I wanted. Before long, I was successfully hitting the bullseye of the target without even having to think. Not everyone else was this successful, however.

Even after half an hour's worth of practice, Al was still unable to lodge a knife into the target. This made my already cranky brother become even more impatient. His already pent up anger blew up when Al refused to go pick up his fallen knives while the rest of us were still throwing. The final blow was when Al admitted that he was afraid.

"You're going to stand there as he throws those knives, until you learn not to flinch," Eric said to Al while pointing to Four. His low voice was bone chilling.

Just as Four was about to throw the first knife, Tris stepped in. "Stop it," she said, questioning my hot headed brother's authority. I sighed. One by one, my friends were challenging Eric. I was the only one who had ever challenged Eric, and was left unharmed. 'What will I do if I ever have to pick between my brother and my friends?' I could help but ask myself.

Now, Tris was stuck standing in front of a target. Eric didn't leave and allow Four's throwing to stop until blood was drawn in the form of Tris getting nicked in the ear.

* * *

Visiting Day was exciting. I couldn't wait to see my parents. Yes, I knew that the concept of "faction before blood" was important, as emphasized by Eric, but that didn't mean I didn't miss my parents.

I ran ahead of all my friends, certain I would find my parents in the crowd of people at the Pit. "Mom! Dad!" I yelled out when I spotted them, standing there waiting for me. My mother held out her arms and I ran into them, missing the feel of her arms around me. I turned to my father next and hugged him tightly as well.

The rest of the day went smoothly. I caught up with my parents, telling them how well I was doing. "See, my martial arts training was useful after all," I couldn't help but tell them. After all, my father had disapproved of me spending so much time on it and had wanted me to focus more on my studies. I was sad to say goodbye to my parents. After all, unless I had a good reason to go to Erudite, I wouldn't see them until next year on Visiting Day.

That night, we saw the rankings from Stage One. I was ranked third. Sadly, when fighting Peter, I had been distracted by the fact that there was a spider on the ground next to me. In an attempt to avoid stepping on the spider, I misstepped, giving Peter the chance to give me the defeating blow to my head, knocking me down.

This regret about losing to Peter was quickly lost when I woke up to the sound of screaming. When the lights turned on, Edward was lying on the ground, blood streaming out of him. It was obvious to me who did it. Peter. Relief flooded through me as I realized I would have had the same fate had I beaten Peter in the fight.

Still, unable to sleep soundly anymore, I trudged towards my brother's room. Rapping on the door loudly, I stood in front of the door until a barely awake Eric opened the door.

"Let me in. I'm sleeping here tonight," I announced as I pushed Eric out of the way and walked towards his bed.

"Huh?" he asked groggily, blinking at me uncomprehendingly.

"By the way, I'm taking the bed," I said, making myself comfortable and leaving Eric to sleep on the couch.


	8. Chapter 8

The next step of training was interesting, to say the least. It was apparently something done individually, as we spent most of the time sitting in a dark hallway, wondering what was behind the closed door.

Now that the Dauntless-born and transfers had been combined, I could see that Alicia and Alex bickered constantly. They were in a middle of a heated argument about who deserved to be ranked fourth. Alicia had ranked fourth while Alex was ranked fifth.

"It wasn't fair. I sneezed!" Alex protested about the fight against Alicia that had decided his fate as fifth.

"Always take every opportunity you can get. It'll save you one day," Alicia replied, winking at the rest of us. As Alex opened his mouth to reply, the door opened and his name was called.

The silence that resulted in the ending of Alex and Alicia's argument was quite uncomfortable. My brother had refused to tell me what the second stage of training was. "Ashley Coalter." After waiting what seemed like forever, my name was finally called. I stood up and entered the room. When I saw the needle Four was holding, I blanched, glaring at it suspiciously. I hated needles with a passion. When I mentioned it to Four, he couldn't help but smile. "I guess you can face your fears starting with this then," he commented while gesturing to the needle, which seemed to grow bigger by the minute.

The stab of the needle was the last thing I felt before I became immersed in the simulation. ' **Of course** the first fear I had to face is needles,' I groaned to myself as I opened my eyes and saw thousands of hands coming towards me, holding needles. I was unable to hold back a scream as I was stabbed with the first needle. 'This is- This is just a- just a simulation,' I think to myself. That didn't help me calm down, however. It was only when I forced myself to close my eyes and ignore the existence of the needles that I was able to calm down and awake from the horrible, horrible simulation.

* * *

Stage two was the worst. I faced all of my greatest fears. My family leaving me, not caring for me anymore. Becoming factionless. Not having any friends. Failing at anything and everything. The needles. There were more fears than I could list. Yes, while in the fear simulations, I knew they weren't real. Yet, I couldn't think of a rational way to defeat the fears. I practically had nightmares every night. They only stopped when I went to my brother's room to find comfort. He wasn't the best at verbal comfort, but his presence comforted me and made me feel safe.

When rankings were revealed, one of my worst fears almost became reality. Even though it shouldn't, it made me relieved that **I** didn't get an exceptional time in coming out of fear simulations. Just for ranking first, Tris suddenly became an outsider in Will and Christina's eyes.

"Congrats," I say to Tris, smiling at her. I had no hatred or jealousy towards her for doing well. After all, my high ranking from Stage One of training would make sure I got into Dauntless.

I was even more relieved when I learned the next day about what had almost happened to Tris. Just for ranking first, she was almost thrown into the chasm by Peter, Drew, and shockingly Al. Finding out that he was ranked last pushed him over the edge. I could barely stop myself from going to find him and beat him to death when I heard during breakfast about how he had been one of the conspirators against Tris. I could barely restrain myself from just taking a few easy steps and beating Peter to death. The only good thing about this whole ordeal, was that it brought Christina and Will back to Tris's side.


	9. Chapter 9

We all stared unbelieving as we saw Al's body getting fished out from the chasm and onto the floor of the Pit. 'Maybe there is something similar between me and my brother after all,' I thought to myself. While everyone else was crying and Tris had a breakdown, I stared coldly at the body. "He deserved it," was all I said, voice void of any emotion.

Everybody mourned Al, even Tris, in her own way. If anything, she remembered memories we shared together when we were all friends. When we had nothing to be afraid of. I shared those memories. Yet, I felt nothing towards the now dead boy. He had ruined all those memories by attempting to murder Tris.

* * *

The fear simulation. I already had enough trouble dealing with my fears one at a time. Now I had to go through all of them in one go, in front of the Dauntless leaders no less. At least I would have one comforting presence: Eric. No matter how much he annoyed me to no end, he was family after all.

Watching other initiates go through their fear simulation, I winced everytime the needle appeared. I still hadn't gotten over that fear. One by one, everybody passed their fear simulation. Then, it was me. I closed my eyes to avoid looking at the needle coming at me. I would have enough of those in my fear simulation. Going through the fear simulation, I realized that losing my family's love was no longer a fear. Eric had always been there for me. Failure was no longer a fear as well. The events I had experienced as an initiate had made sure of that. After all, if I had been first instead of Edward, or later first instead of Tris, I wouldn't even be alive.

"Congrats, sis. You've completed your evaluation," Eric says, clapping his hand on my shoulder. Glancing at a woman holding a case behind him, he said, "I'll give you your shot later. I think you've had enough needles for today." I nodded, grateful that I wouldn't have to face any more needles.

When rankings came out, I heaved a great sigh of relief. I made it. I was officially in Dauntless.


End file.
